A major California hospital chain, Sutter Health, agreed to pay $46 million and disclose more pricing information to consumers to resolve a whistle-blower complaint alleging false and misleading charges for anesthesia. Sutter Health, which runs 24 acute-care hospitals in Northern California, said it reached the settlement Monday just prior to a trial starting this month over the allegations that it added thousands of dollars for "Code 37x" anesthesia charges that were already covered by other billing for the hospital operating room.

A major California hospital chain, Sutter Health, agreed to pay $46 million and disclose more pricing information to consumers to resolve a whistle-blower complaint alleging false and misleading charges for anesthesia. Sutter Health, which runs 24 acute-care hospitals in Northern California, said it reached the settlement Monday just prior to a trial starting this month over the allegations that it added thousands of dollars for "Code 37x" anesthesia charges that were already covered by other billing for the hospital operating room.

Sutter Health, a Sacramento-based hospital chain with 26 facilities, settled a class-action lawsuit that accused the nonprofit company of overcharging uninsured patients. Under the settlement, uninsured patients who visited Sutter hospitals since Sept. 3, 2000, will be entitled to 25% to 45% refunds on their hospital bills. The hospital chain, which admitted no wrongdoing, also agreed to offer discounted care based on patients' income levels. -- Daniel Yi

Some of the top employers looking to hire in Los Angeles include fast-food chain McDonald's and healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente. That's according to a new report from job site SimplyHired.com, which took a look at the companies posting the most job openings in cities around the country. In Los Angeles, McDonald's currently has about 1,600 jobs open in the city, while Kaiser Permanente has about 1,500 positions available. 24 Hour Fitness (1,200), USC (900) and Citigroup (775)

CalPERS, the nation's biggest pension fund, will review allegations of possible overcharging at Sutter Health hospitals after the Northern California chain acknowledged it could face a federal probe for its Medicare billing practices, a CalPERS spokesman said Wednesday.

Wellpoint Health Networks Inc. shares rose nearly 5% after the company's Blue Cross of California unit said it had reached an agreement with Sutter Health on reimbursement rates. The Woodland Hills-based managed-care company's shares rose $3.13 to close at $65 on the NYSE.

About 4,000 nurses at eight Sutter Health hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area started striking Friday over a dispute about their healthcare and pension benefits and the closing of hospitals in poor areas. The strike affects hospitals in Antioch, Berkeley, Burlingame, Castro Valley, Oakland, San Francisco, San Mateo and Vallejo. The California Nurses Assn. union said the walkout was triggered by contract negotiations and Sutter practices that it said put patients at risk. Sutter Health said it had met the levels of staffing, healthcare and retirement benefits the union had demanded from other hospitals.

The state attorney general approved letting Sutter Health take over San Francisco's last independent full-service hospital. The Sacramento-based network of hospitals and medical groups could assume control of the financially troubled St. Luke's Hospital in the Mission District as early as next month. Sutter must maintain on-site acute care, emergency room service, an intensive care unit and clinics at the hospital for at least five years.

Patrick G. Hays to Lead Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn.: Hays, 53, will become president and chief executive on Feb. 6. The association is the national coordinating body for the nation's 68 community-based and independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. Hays will succeed Bernard Tresnowski, who retired Dec. 1 after 13 years in the job. Since 1980, Hays has been president and CEO of Sutter Health, a Sacramento-based managed-care company.

They're fed up and they're not going to take it anymore. That's the case for thousands of employees across the country who are striking and walking out of jobs rather than accept changes to their pay and benefits. It might be a shot in the arm for a labor movement that had been left for dead but saw big gains in the November election as voters elected pro-labor candidates. The number of union-related work stoppages involving more than 1,000 workers, which reached an all-time low of just five in 2009, rose to 13 this year as of October.

A wave of consolidation among hospitals and physician groups has drawn scrutiny from the California attorney general's office amid concerns that these alliances could boost medical prices. Some hospital chains and insurance companies in the state said they have received civil subpoenas from the attorney general's office seeking information about market concentration among medical providers and the effect on healthcare pricing. Sharp HealthCare, which runs seven hospitals and two affiliated medical groups in the San Diego area, said it was contacted by investigators, as were some insurers such as Health Net Inc. of Woodland Hills.

Hundreds of nurses from Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children's Hospital staged a one-day strike Thursday over failed contract negotiations and staffing issues. Equipped with bullhorns and whistles, the nurses stood by the main entrance of the hospitals on Patterson Street and Atlantic Avenue. Many waved picket signs that read: "If nurses are outside, something's wrong inside" and "Safe staffing at all times. " Amid the yelling and cheering for every car horn honk they got, the nurses sang out chants.

About 4,000 nurses at eight Sutter Health hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area started striking Friday over a dispute about their healthcare and pension benefits and the closing of hospitals in poor areas. The strike affects hospitals in Antioch, Berkeley, Burlingame, Castro Valley, Oakland, San Francisco, San Mateo and Vallejo. The California Nurses Assn. union said the walkout was triggered by contract negotiations and Sutter practices that it said put patients at risk. Sutter Health said it had met the levels of staffing, healthcare and retirement benefits the union had demanded from other hospitals.

Sutter Health, a Sacramento-based hospital chain with 26 facilities, settled a class-action lawsuit that accused the nonprofit company of overcharging uninsured patients. Under the settlement, uninsured patients who visited Sutter hospitals since Sept. 3, 2000, will be entitled to 25% to 45% refunds on their hospital bills. The hospital chain, which admitted no wrongdoing, also agreed to offer discounted care based on patients' income levels. -- Daniel Yi

A Placer County jury Friday ordered one of the country's largest labor unions to pay $17.3 million for defaming a group of Northern California doctors and hospitals. The jury found that the New York-based Unite Here union had acted with "fraud, malice or oppression" when it sent out a mass mailing last year claiming that Sutter Health used inadequately cleaned bed linens in its hospitals.

A Placer County jury Friday ordered one of the country's largest labor unions to pay $17.3 million for defaming a group of Northern California doctors and hospitals. The jury found that the New York-based Unite Here union had acted with "fraud, malice or oppression" when it sent out a mass mailing last year claiming that Sutter Health used inadequately cleaned bed linens in its hospitals.

Some of the top employers looking to hire in Los Angeles include fast-food chain McDonald's and healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente. That's according to a new report from job site SimplyHired.com, which took a look at the companies posting the most job openings in cities around the country. In Los Angeles, McDonald's currently has about 1,600 jobs open in the city, while Kaiser Permanente has about 1,500 positions available. 24 Hour Fitness (1,200), USC (900) and Citigroup (775)

CalPERS, the nation's biggest pension fund, will review allegations of possible overcharging at Sutter Health hospitals after the Northern California chain acknowledged it could face a federal probe for its Medicare billing practices, a CalPERS spokesman said Wednesday.